Purpose This paper aims to establish a notion of speculation in the design process in architecture studios as a way to invent new ways of thinking and making beyond narrow pedagogical approaches in the service of designing buildings. The notion of speculation is formulated on the basis of the concept of practical judgment, and articulated as a way of going beyond habitual ways of teaching architecture. The article discusses a design studio process where different cultural artifacts are juxtaposed on each other in an iterative process that sets out a hermeneutical horizon for new possibilities of seeing and understanding to emerge. Design/methodology/approach Unrelated to each other, a filmic narrative and a cityscape are combined in collage studies to initiate imaginative readings of both. These initial studies are followed by other constructs in various media, to form the history of a thinking process where the constructed objects open up in iterative reverberations to establish a sense of place in the design process. A tectonic and spatial emphasis on lived experience underlines the speculative and improvisational aspects of this iterative/generative procedure. Combined through certain experiential threads, the design studio project emerges as the culmination of this history of thinking and making. Findings The design studio shows the effectiveness of using different cultural artifacts to establish a conceptual/poetic framework in the design process where the constructs are infused with creative narratives in the pursuit of meaningful places. It also shows the viability of an iterative/generative design sequence that moves between various scales and media, from hand drawings to physical models to digital makings and reflections. A key discussion in the process is the complementary modalities of physical and digital productions where each step not only reflects back on the previous but also projects further experiential possibilities. Originality/value This study is an attempt to bring cultural disciplinary reflection into the design studios at a time when the mainstream cultural narratives and practices that shape our lives continually diminish the range of meaningful human experiences. Architecture today is consumerized on Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok with its sleek forms. The profession of architecture more and more sees itself as a service provider to developers, authority and power, comfortably sustaining an image of individuality projected by consumer and social media. Where more and more students join architectural schools for an architecture degree itself rather than a well-rounded architectural education, and where academia is also being restructured on corporate business models, to encourage the professional degrees over disciplinary thinking, this study brings in a critical voice to architectural pedagogy and shows ways of pursuing architectural design as a creative reflection on human existence.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate how landscape infrastructures and architectural tools can serve as intermediaries in reimagining olive grove farmsteads in the face of climate change. It examines how diversification through intercropping with Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) facilitates new kinds of collaboration between smallholders, large landowners and agri-business stakeholders, with a focus on two estates in Laconia, Greece. Design is positioned as a catalyst for socio-ecological regeneration and adaptive transformation in Mediterranean rural landscapes by illustrating how “common enabling infrastructures” promote collective resourcefulness, ecological resilience and more-than-human relations through a research through design (RtD) methodology. Design/methodology/approach In order to investigate the spatial, ecological and social interdependencies within the diversification of olive groves in Laconia, Greece, the study employs a RtD methodology. Participatory mapping, diagrammatic representation and unstructured interviews with farmers, agribusiness stakeholders and local communities were all incorporated into the fieldwork. The study visualized intercropping and shared infrastructure scenarios through iterative “by-design” processes, which allowed actors to negotiate and revealed latent ecological and spatial potentials. The design tools – prototypes, maps and composite diagrams – acted as intermediaries, converting ecological, social and technical knowledge into workable frameworks for collaborative, climate-adaptive infrastructures in rural areas. Findings By visualizing shared infrastructures and more-than-human relations in olive grove diversification, the study shows how design can mediate local–global interdependencies within the framework of planetary ruralities. Intercropping with MAPs promotes ecological regeneration and allows for new partnerships between smallholders, large estates and agribusiness actors, according to field-based “by-design” procedures. The suggested common enabling infrastructures, like hybrid solar drying sheds, represent low-impact, collaborative ways to connect community agency and climate adaptation. These results demonstrate how architectural representation functions as a global instrument for navigating rural change and promoting robust, interdependent bioregional economies. Research limitations/implications The study captures context-specific socio-ecological dynamics that may vary among Mediterranean regions. Although transferable spatial principles were identified by the RtD approach, longer-term studies and comparative applications in various rural settings are necessary for wider validation. However, the results have important ramifications for reconsidering rural infrastructures as dynamic, community-focused systems. Within the larger context of planetary ruralities, they propose that design methodologies can help close the gaps between ecology, policy and practice, facilitating the shift to community-led, regenerative and climate-adaptive rural economies. Practical implications The study provides practical methods for incorporating design thinking into agribusiness innovation and rural revitalization. It offers a transferable model for encouraging collaboration between farmers, landowners and industry stakeholders by presenting infrastructures as shared, adaptable systems. The proposed common enabling infrastructures – such as hybrid solar drying sheds and intercropping layouts – demonstrate how low-cost, participatory design can enhance biodiversity, circularity and social equity. In the context of Mediterranean and global rural transitions, these strategies can help shape bioregional planning frameworks, European Union (EU) agri-environmental programs and rural development policies. They can also help create multipurpose landscapes that combine community empowerment and ecological resilience. Social implications The study emphasizes how, in rural communities dealing with economic and climate change, design can foster new kinds of social cooperation and collective agency. It encourages communication and mutual reliance between smallholders, migrant laborers and large landowners by illustrating shared infrastructures and intercropping systems. By encouraging fair access to resources and the sharing of knowledge, these cooperative frameworks upend established land ownership hierarchies. In the larger framework of planetary ruralities, the method helps to rethink rurality as a networked, relational field where human and non-human actors jointly generate resilience, solidarity and socio-ecological regeneration. Originality/value This study presents a new point of convergence between the developing concept of planetary ruralities, common enabling infrastructures and RtD. It illustrates how architectural representation can function as a negotiating tool, converting rural infrastructures from immobile structures into dynamic, collaborative and environmentally conscious systems. The study provides fresh perspectives on how design mediates interactions between people, non-humans and territorial processes by concentrating on the diversification of olive groves in Laconia, Greece. Redefining farmstead infrastructures as drivers of commoning, regeneration and multi-scalar connectivity across social, ecological and spatial domains is what makes it original within contemporary discourse.

Investigating the description of the Architect of Qatar University Campus reveals that one of the initial intentions in the design of the campus was to introduce a series of open public spaces and partially covered courtyards, displaying gardens and fountains to create small oases throughout the university. These spaces intended to encourage intellectual and social atmosphere and to provide agreeable surroundings for informal gathering and activities. However, preliminary observations of these spaces show that the original purpose for which they were created seems to be un-satisfied. Strikingly, no attempt has been made to systematically evaluate the performance of these spaces with respect to the use of the university community. Thus, this paper engulfs the issue of design intention versus users’ reactions by conducting a post occupancy evaluation study. It introduces an assessment of the performance of Qatar University-QU campus outdoor spaces from users’ perspective after it has been used and occupied for over 20 years. The assessment aims at understanding the mutual interaction process between the built environment exemplified by the physical characteristics of campus outdoor spaces and the needs of the university community exemplified by students, faculty, and staff. Therefore, the paper argues for the value of evaluating current campus outdoor spaces from users’ perspective. It aims at defining problematic areas related to the utilization of current spaces—that are contrasted with the architect’s design philosophy and intentions—in order to develop a framework for possible future improvements. The methodology adopted is multilayered in nature and incorporates a wide variety of assessment techniques, including walk-through evaluation, observation, behavioral mapping, and questionnaires. The investigation reveals a number of problems that may hinder the performance of different types of QU campus users. The paper concludes that by recognizing how well university campus outdoor spaces respond to the needs of faculty, students, and staff, one can recommend ways of improving the outdoor environment necessary to facilitate the work and learning experiences of different users within the campus and the desired student-faculty interaction.

The literature is replete with accounts of the struggle to effectively target and deploy postdisaster aid so as to achieve maximum benefit to recipients, both direct and indirect, over the short- and longer-term. Generally these stories balance success with lessons learned from failure, in order to inform practice in future recovery and reconstruction events. They are often derived from the heroic accounts of key actors in case studies, on the understandable basis that these carefully selected individuals will have been pivotal in designing and directing the implementation of aid programmes. The influence of non-humans such as organisations, systems, processes, or elements of the constructed environment are considered only insofar as they impact upon the experiences of the raconteurs. However actor network theory, a technique originally developed to examine phenomena at the sociotechnological interface, ascribes human characteristics such as motives and behaviours equally to human and non-human actants, ultimately to better explain the worldly consequences of their interaction. This paper reports on the ex post application of ANT to data collected in an earlier actor-centric study, to both evaluate its usefulness in disaster research and to identify potential gaps in the disaster research agenda.

Reconstruction projects built in the post-disaster period have become ever more visible over the past three decades. Research studies completed in this context generally aim to evaluate the finished projects through the viewpoints of either dwellers or implementing actors. Each study deals with a different type of disaster, occurring in a specific context; thus, their target beneficiary group and project focus are varied as well. Due to such differentiations, each researcher aims to put their specific criteria and indicators, or to follow a previous study in same context, to examine the phenomenon and to evaluate it at the end. This study focuses upon the post-earthquake permanent housing projects built by the state in the last two decades in rural eastern Turkey, and the target participant group is the rural dwellers in these settlements. Questionnaire survey is the main data collection tool for this study, and in this paper the theoretical approach to the preparation of the questionnaire is explained in detail. This approach covers selecting and categorizing the indicators, and extending their reasons by examining previous studies done either in Turkey or other countries.

Stemming from the assumption that disasters present unique conditions to rethink the associations and relationships among different actors, while acknowledging post disaster reconstruction as a political process that may generate momentum for institutional transformation; this article discusses the institutional responses to housing in such a transformative moment. Grounding the empirical terrain into the 2010 Chilean earthquake, the article is concerned with how the institutional response to housing needs has been influenced by the neoliberal context and civil society in the aftermath of the event. Its objective is to review the changes in housing policy over this period, and to what extent these changes are proposing a new social order, or consolidating the existing one; to what extent civil society claims can challenge contexts of exclusion; and to what extent the actors’ roles change or remain static. To do so, it develops a series of criteria to apply to the reconstruction process and housing policy transformation that took place after the earthquake. The main findings show that the institutional responses have promoted the consolidation of a model rather than a transformative process. By contrast, social organisations have embraced elements of transformation towards collective capability strengthening that are not necessarily recognised by formal institutions.

Although limited by economic constraints, builder-dwellers in informal, self-made environments are free to choose housing forms and materials without external constraint or control. This situation potentially offers considerable freedom for expressive gestures, originality and individuality. Drawing on data from a longitudinal ethnographic study in Colombia this paper explores how dwelling forms and practices are characterised by imitative behaviours at a range of scales including settlement layouts, house plans, selection of materials and house furnishings. The main arena for competitive display and distinction is on the front facades of the dwellings where variations in colour and form become increasingly evident as settlements consolidate. The paper utilises Bourdieu’s concepts of distinction and cultural capital to explore the changing dynamics of housing design and display, and to explain why as dwellings consolidate, there appears to be an increasing divergence between dwelling forms and domestic practies.

Perceived quality of building exteriors has been an important research area in the field of environmental psychology since the 1960’s. Although a voluminous number of studies have analyzed the influence of personal factors and architectural style on building exterior evaluations, previous studies have overlooked the physical environmental features. This study examined the effects of (1) participants’ major, (2) buildings’ architectural style, and (3) physical environmental factors (roof type, window size, amount of open space, and level of complexity) on aesthetic evaluations of building exteriors. Twenty planning students, twenty architecture students, and twenty students from general university population evaluated the photographs of 18 high style modern and postmodern houses. Results showed that physical environmental factors including roof type, window size, amount of open space, the level of complexity have a stronger effect compared to participant’s major. Informed by research, which objectively evaluats the effect of physical features on preference judgments of building exteriors, designers could improve the physical quality of neighborhoods and design better environments.

City designs in Iran have used the hierarchy principle in all elements of the cities from the components to the whole. The physical cells of tissues in an urban area are clearly related. However, in the development of cities, traces of the network of space communications to the old city centre remain. Instead of composition streets, squares and communication between, the networks contain filled rows with independent buildings. The purpose of this article is to recover the specific relationships between elements of the city and the urban hierarchy with regard to morphological aspects. In this study, urban tissue and typology are used to assess the pattern of urban streets, blocks, squares and islands. The typology of urban tissue based on evaluation of the mentioned patterns is established through field studies, aerial photos and maps of separated lands. We chose the city of Boshrooyeh in eastern Iran as the case study. The historic city core sector has been evaluated in terms of physical characteristics, which provide the morphological typology of the urban tissue. After analysis, data can be investigated in the presence or absence of access hierarchy in different historical periods of the city. The purpose of identifying the morphological typology of the city’s historic fabric is to help us determine the hierarchical order and coherence of the city. The result of this study shows the rapid development of the city, including widening streets, and destruction of the urban form (Main Street and Square). These incidents have led to loss of infrastructure, urban identity, and disorganisation in the urban hierarchy.

“Although many artists and architects privilege phenomenological experience, they often offer the near-reverse: ‘experience’ handed back to us as ‘atmosphere’ or ‘affect’ - that is as environments that confuse the actual with the virtual, or feelings that are hardly our own yet interpolate us nonetheless. In the guise of our activation, some work even tends to subdue us, for the more it opts for special effects, the less it engages us as active viewers.“ (Foster, 2011) The article that follows chronicles the evolution of the respective sub-fields of endeavor from the unique perspectives of the authors and their cumulative involvements and experiences. Its main purpose is to begin to bridge the gap between the affective and effective goals of architectural criticism (Attoe, 1989). In other words, the attempt will be made to connect the perceived vs. measured quality of the designed and built environment, including visual-aesthetic quality. The result is an entirely new form of criticism that is instructive as both a tool to professionals and an explication of the built environment to the layperson beyond aesthetic platitudes. Because of its cumulative nature, the2-part literature review is not intended to be exhaustive since that can be gleaned from a sample of authoritative publications on the evolution of: 1. Architectural Criticism: On Architecture: Collected Reflections on a Century of Change by Huxtable (Walker, 2010), Why Architecture Matters by Goldberger (Yale University Press, 2003), and After the End of Art: Contemporary Art and the Pale of History by Danto (Princeton University Press, 1997); 2. Post-Occupancy Evaluation/Building Performance Evaluation: Enhancing Building Performance by Mallory-Hill, Preiser and Watson (Wiley, 2012); Learning From Our Buildings: A State-ofthe-Practice Summary of Post-Occupancy Evaluation by Federal Facilities Council (National Academy Press, 2001); and, Building Evaluation Techniques by Baird et al. (McGraw-Hill, 1996).